The Akron Law The Homeless Won

I want to make sure this does not get lost either by the city law department OR the city as a whole.

On September 6, 2016 these homeless Akronites won a settlement and consent decree against the city of Akron.

Those homeless people were:

WILLIAM BUKER, NICOLE GOULD, CARL LYNCH, PATRICK MOE, MELVIN THOMPSON, and CODY USNER

This was referred to as Moe v. City of Akron (5:14-cv-02197)

You can read more about it here:

Law students file suit in federal court on behalf of 11 homeless people in Akron The Daily

When Rebecca Sremack was a third-year student last year in Case Western Reserve University School of Law’s Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic, the Akron native found a way to link her dedication to important causes in her hometown with the Kramer Clinic’s mission.

Case Western Reserve law students on Friday filed a federal class-action lawsuit, claiming the city of Akron wrongfully raided places where the homeless live.

The lawsuit contends that personal property was taken without notice or a chance to object to the seizures. The lawsuit names certain city administrative and police officials as defendants. According to news reports, Akron police issued a statement disputing the lawsuit’s claims and asserting the legality of its actions.

THEY WON THIS LAWSUIT.

Here is the complete consent decree:

https://www.sagelewis.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Final-Consent-Decree-and-Settlement-Agreement-and-Release-9.6.16.pdf

Even though this is the law of Akron, I can see the city slipping back into old habits. They are not following the orders in the decree. In doing so they are in contempt of court.

We MUST document each time a camp is swept in Akron so that we can compare it against this decree.

I’ve seen first hand how they do not catalog items properly or even store them properly.